Nature Communications (Dec 2020)

An epigenetic gene silencing pathway selectively acting on transgenic DNA in the green alga Chlamydomonas

  • Juliane Neupert,
  • Sean D. Gallaher,
  • Yinghong Lu,
  • Daniela Strenkert,
  • Na’ama Segal,
  • Rouhollah Barahimipour,
  • Sorel T. Fitz-Gibbon,
  • Michael Schroda,
  • Sabeeha S. Merchant,
  • Ralph Bock

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19983-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 17

Abstract

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Strong transgene suppression has been observed in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Here, the authors identify a sirtuin-type histone deacetylase that selectively acts on transgenic DNA to repress gene expression by assembling a repressive chromatin structure composed of deacetylated histones.